ABOUT US
The Division of Social Sciences fosters a community of active scholars. Supported by staff, students and faculty work collaboratively within and across diverse disciplines to seek, build and apply empirically driven knowledge about human, social and institutional interaction.
Instruction is vibrant and relevant to the time and world in which we live and encourages responsible citizenship for today and tomorrow. Through classroom learning and applied settings such as supervised internships and mentored research projects, students in the social sciences acquire an understanding of society while developing the analytical tools with which to provide solutions to a diverse range of social problems.
As a division within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Social Sciences Division offers programs in each constituent department leading to the BA degree. Additionally, a BS degree is offered in Psychology and an MA degree is offered in Marriage and Family Therapy.
Social Sciences faculty also participate in many other programs. Among them are Actuarial Science, Chinese Studies Program, Environmental Studies, Global Studies, the Honors Program, Legal Studies, MBA, Statistics, and Women's and Gender Studies.
Dean: Dr. Norris Peterson, Professor of EconomicsXavier 155/152petersna@plu.edu Support Staff Carol Reed, Assistant to the Dean Division of Social SciencesXavier 152reedca@plu.edu253.535.7669 Brenda Murray, Administrative AssistantEconomics, History, Marriage & Family Therapy, Political Science
Xavier 101murraybj@plu.edu253.535.7595 Vanessa Ellison, Administrative AssistantAnthropology, Psychology, Sociology, Social WorkXavier 241ellisova@plu.edu253.535.7294
For contact information for a faculty member, please see Division of Social Sciences Faculty Directory.